I just finished reading Burning Empires, and I'm interested in setting up a PbP. Anyone else interested?

Interested, though I'm not very familiar with PbP.  Maybe it could help to gain courage enough to run it out here.

What is this "Burning Empires" of which you speak?

It's a bit like Traveler combined with WH40K with a Nobilis-level of PC involvement in setting up the world. It's run using a modified version of the Burning Wheel mechanics. I'd be willing to GM unless somebody else really wants to.

Sounds interestnig, but I haven't go the rules. If there's some way to work aroundthat, count me in. I like high-level games.

We probably can if we can snag some other people who have the rulebook. The basic mechanics are pretty easy, but it's all the little details that give the game life.

I'd be interested. I've borrowed a copy of the book but its hooked me enough that I'll buy it next month and can probably hold onto the copy until then.

I think if several people had the book then if a few didn't it would be ok - the variations are somewhat complex but also fairly standard in that there seem few exceptions to the rules

Oh yes, I would be very interested in playing. I've got a Burning Empires PbP just about ready to kick off on the rpg.net forums (fair warning, world burning and character burning took a LONG time in the PbP medium), but I was the only one willing to GM. I'd LOVE the chance to actually PLAY.

Obviously, I have the book and have read it through pretty thoroughly, though we haven't starting playing yet, so I'm hardly an expert on the system.

That's five of us so far. I'll leave recruitment open for another two days, and then let's get world burning! I'll be GM unless someone else wants to be?

I'm game.

Cool.

OK, so far we have:

Myself
Gunslinger
hgjs
Illegible Smudge
NiallS
Werekoala

as players. Everyone has a copy of or has access to the rulebook except Werekoala, right? I'll be the GM unless anyone objects?

If not, let's start world-burning tomorrow. For the sake of anyone who doesn't have the book, I'll post each question from the world burner with the list of possible answers, but without the Infection bonuses or penalties for choosing those answers.

If a choice opens up or closes off a set of lifepaths, I'll post that fact so that people who want to play spaceship captains etc. don't find themselves on a world without spaceships etc.

My hope is to get through at least one question from the world burner every two days - ideally even faster if everyone can keep up. I'd like everyone to respond to every question, even if it's to say "I don't care which we choose".

So:

At this point, start thinking about what kind of planet or system you want to play in. High tech space communes, grim and gritty industrialised feudalism, aliens, no aliens, etc. Start thinking of character ideas - who wants to be a space captain, who wants to be a master diplomat, who wants to shoot ray pistols and who wants to run the biggest business in the system.

Also, you should figure out whether the group wants to be human or worms.


Werekoala> The first thing we do is Burning Empires is establish the particular world or system in which the game starts. This is called "world burning". There's a list of questions that the players (including the GM) answer that determine what kind of world it is that the game will (mostly) take place on.

The idea is that while there are sprawling interstellar alliances and super-cultures still, the degeneration of interstellar travel has led to local independence of star systems and a great deal of diversity in cultures and technological development. Each system, while not isolated, is the master of its own affairs. The world-burner sorts out what kind of system it is based on the answers the players give to a set of questions.

Different choices give different bonuses to either the human or alien parasite worm side that come up in something called "the Infection mechanics" (which we'll be dealing with fairly often).

Different choices also establish what kinds of lifepaths you can choose most easily - military dictatorships with large armies composed of noble warriors make it easier to be from the military or a member of the nobles for example.

Also, the PCs as a group get to choose whether they're gonna be humans or humans who've been taken over by the alien parasite worms. I run the other side.

Well, I would rather play humans than Vaylen, but other than that, I'm quite open. The first thing that comes to mind is some kind of Freeport or Port Royal analogue, an anarchic pirate den / trading outpost on the edge of civilization, maybe a rickety space station orbiting a gas giant. But that's just the first thing that popped into my head - like I said, I'm easy. I suspect my desire to play a pirate lord might be a large contributing factor to that suggestion.

I too have a preference for playing Human rather than Vaylen.

As for the type of world, the first thing that comes into my mind is a Warhammer 40,000-style industrialized dystopia.

The next thing that comes to mind is some sort of hippie space commune. (I mean in relative terms.  Probably roughly analogous to the modern day United States or the wealthier EU states in terms of personal and economic freedoms.)  A fairly nice place to live, but not prepared as a society for the Invasion of the Body-Snatchers.

Quote from: hgjsAs for the type of world, the first thing that comes into my mind is a Warhammer 40,000-style industrialized dystopia.

On the other hand, I could be totally down with that.

Ok, I figure most folks are gonna wanna play human? Let's get down to world burning:

First question: What kind of world and where?

There are four kinds of worlds:

Old Imperial World
Interior World
Outworld
Void World

Old Imperial Worlds are the centres of galactic civilisation. They're the dominant systems of local sectors, buried deep in the centre of human space. They're mostly concerned with human politics and civilisation, with little thought for the Vaylen.

Interior Worlds are the vast bulk of planets, somewhere between the core of galactic civilisation and its outer edges. They know of and are concerned by the worm, but don't really see it as a pressing issue. They tend to be less important to galactic politics than Old Imperial Worlds.

Outworlds are at the edges of galactic civilisation. The worm is the most pressing issue, even though galactic politics occasionally intrudes. They're good if you want to focus on the worm or local matters over galactic politics.

Void Worlds are beyond the edges of galactic civilisation. They are weird and wonderful and isolated from the concerns of the rest of mankind.

Outworlds and Void Worlds will allow you to later pick "Educated" and "Personal Experience" (the two strongest options for the human side in the infection mechanics) when we get to "What does your world think about the worm?" Old Imperial Worlds and Interior Worlds don't get to pick these.

Location:

There are eight successor "states" in Burning Empires:

Casiguran Matriarchy - Run by women, suspicious of outsiders, one of the furthest away from the threat of the worm. It's a good place to choose if you want to lead a cult, because it's broken from the Mundus Humanitas (the main church).

Comoran Worlds - A powerful confederacy torn apart by religious strife between the Mundus Humanitas and the Cyrean heretics (basically Space Catholicism and Space Protestantism). It's a good place if you want to get involved in galactic politics or create religious characters. Think Germany in the Wars of Religion... but in space.

Darikahn Empire - One of the most militarily powerful factions. They share a border with the worm, but are also engaged in wars with almost all of their neighbours. They have the biggest fleets, and are a good place if you want to run a space fleet and blow your enemies (worms or otherwise) out of the stars. They're all baroque and convoluted - I think of them as a bit like Napoleonic France in space.

Dunedin Worlds - Crusaders for the Mundus Humanitas. Think of the real-life Crusades - freebooters, criminals, warlords and the like banded together to rob, loot and conquer under the aegis of "religion". A good place if you want to be scummy freebooters.

Gonzagin Empire - Lots of independent worlds that squabble with one another and unite mostly to boot out their enemies. They're very austere and claim to be the true successors to the old regime (the Hanrilke throne). They border the worm and are at war with the Darikahn.

Karsan League - Technologically advanced, and full of merchant leagues. They are also the best place to be if anyone wants to be a psychologist (a psychic). They border the worm and are in between the Gonzagins and Darikahns. They're a good choice if you want lots of techno-gadgets.

Kudus Theocracy - Religion, religion, religion. Run by the Mundus Humanitas. Good if you want to play a game focusing on religion, be super-cool holy warriors, or get involved in galactic politics since they're in the centre of civilisation.

Urfan Worlds - The farthest from the worm. They're isolated, independent, and good if you want to play stone-cold badasses of any stripe. They're also one of the poorest groups, and threatened by pirates, warlords and the terrors of the void.

Remember, picking a spot won't have a ton of effect on play unless someone wants to be a psychologist. Otherwise, it's just colour.



Since the GM gets to vote same as everyone else, I'm leaning for a Gonzagin Outworld.

I like the super-industrialised dystopia idea, maybe with the anarchic space stations surrounding it as satellites? They could use the space stations as wayposts for raw materials being brought in from the rest of the system. Maybe there's lots of asteroids that are rich in rare metals? Pirates try to rob the shipments, but the freedom-loving space miners resist letting the planetary government flex their might to wipe them out fully? We can figure out what the rare metals get turned into when we get to primary production etc.

Being an Outworld means that local authorities are dominant, so no calling in your space-warlord buddies from the next system over. Being Gonzagin is cool because they're supposed to have a very sparse, minimalist aesthetic. I'm thinking of long gray factory blocks, smoke stacks, everything colour-coded instead of decorated, a kind of Ikea-run-by-the-devil look.